Domain name system, commonly referred to as DNS (specified, e.g. in RFC's (Request For Comment) 1034 and 1035), and domain names are a prominent part of conventional networking, such as public Internet networking. A user that relies on the Internet to send electronic mail, i.e., e-mail or browse the Web, will employ the use of DNS without even realizing it.
In one application, DNS servers are used to translate domain names to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. While network users will generally refer to an Internet domain, such as nokia.com, yahoo.com or amazon.com, by name, the hardware that comprises the network will recognize the domain by the IP address assigned to the domain, for example, an IP address such as 216.183.103.150. Thus, the DNS system acts as a distributed database for IP addresses and every device currently residing on the network has its own IP address. Certain devices, such as servers, have a static IP address that does not change very often, while user devices, such as personal computers, laptops and the like that, by example, dial into the network through a modem often have an IP address that is, in one application, assigned by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server associated with the Internet Service Provider (ISP). The DNS system is considered a distributed database because every domain in the network has its own DNS that handles IP address resolving requests.
Functionally, DNS accepts requests from clients or other name servers to convert domain names into IP addresses. When a request is received by a name server the server will either answer the request with a known cached IP address for the requested domain, contact another name server in an attempt to find the IP address for the requested domain, inform the requester which name server may know the IP address of the requested domain or inform the requester that the domain name is unknown.
Conventionally, all data stored in the DNS or accessible to the DNS is generally considered to be public data that is available to all users having access to the DNS through the network. However, some of the user's service dependent identities, such as email addresses and the like, may be deemed by the user as private and, as such, cannot be stored in the DNS in the conventional manner. In these instances the identities/addresses must be distributed in a different manner, such as manually by the user either internal to the network or external to the network.
Thus a need exists to develop a system and corresponding methods for the private use of existing portions of a public distributed database, such as the DNS database. The desired methods and systems should provide for backward compatibility with the existing DNS servers. Additionally, the desired methods and systems should provide for a user to store network addresses and service dependent addresses within the DNS and provide for private use of these addresses only to those parties that have established a trust with the user. Additionally, the desired systems and methods should provide for the data stored in the DNS to be divided into both public and private classification, such that a user can identify and store certain public information that is available to all parties that have access to the DNS while other information that has been classified as private is only useable to parties which have established a trust.